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Developing Your Startup Story: An Interactive Workshop w/ Sara Gaviser Leslie
The document discusses the startup Zimek, which aims to revolutionize the decontamination industry with its patented micro-mist technology that combats superbugs and resistant microbes. It highlights the public health crisis posed by untreatable infections and emphasizes the importance of a strong funding deck for capital raising and future communications. The document also outlines audience engagement strategies and the necessity of effectively pitching to investors.
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Developing Your Startup Story: An Interactive Workshop w/ Sara Gaviser Leslie
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- 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 COMPANY PURPOSE PROBLEM SOLUTION WHY NOW/ WHY US MARKET SIZE PRODUCT TEAM BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION FINANCIALS
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- 5. “What is conceived well isexpressed clearly.” – NICOLA BOILEAU
- 6. 1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 10 COMPANY PURPOSE PROBLEM SOLUTION WHY NOW/ WHY US MARKET SIZE PRODUCT TEAM BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION FINANCIALS TABLE OF CONTENTS
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- 23. ZIMEK PROVIDES A SOLUTIONTHAT IS EFFICIENT, SAFE, AFFORDABLE AND READY TO DEPLOY EVERYWHERE RESISTANT MICROBES ARE FOUND. SUPERBUGS/RESISTANT MICROBES CANNOT BE STOPPED AUDIENCE MOVE TO: AUDIENCE MOVE FROM:
- 24. AUDIENCE MOVE TO: WHAT DOYOU NEED THEM TO BELIEVE? WHY? WHAT DOES YOUR AUDIENCE BELIEVE RIGHT NOW? AUDIENCE MOVE FROM: YOUR TURN…
- 26. ZIMEK’S PATENTED MICRO-MISTTECHNOLOGY WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE DECONTAMINATION INDUSTRY AND PROTECT HUMAN BEINGS FROM DANGEROUS SUPERBUGS. BIG IDEA: AUDIENCE MOVE FROM: AUDIENCE MOVE TO: ZIMEK PROVIDES A SOLUTION THAT IS EFFICIENT, SAFE, AFFORDABLE AND READY TO DEPLOY EVERYWHERE RESISTANT MICROBES ARE FOUND. SUPERBUGS/RESISTANT MICROBES CANNOT BE STOPPED. PROPOSED STORY ARC: WE ARE LOSING THE BATTLE EXISTING SOLUTIONS DON’T WORK INTRODUCING ZIMEK CALL TO ACTION
- 27. SLIDE MAIN IDEASPEAKER NOTES ZIMEK • (TITLE SLIDE) SHOW PICS OF THE MICROBES (MAY OVERLAY WITH HEADLINE) • We are losing the battle against virtually all species of infection-causing microbes: bacteria, viruses, and mold spores • These microbes have become resistant to almost all antibiotics • As a result, untreatable infections will become the greatest public health issue crisis in history (BUILD?) SIX CRUISE SHIPS AIRPLANE PICTURES OF BABIES AT DAY CARE AND ELDERLY PEOPLE AT A NURSING HOME • Infections across a broad range in public facilities, transportation • Norovirus has already hit six large cruise liners in 2014. That’s over 25,000 people exposed in four months! • They are hitting us in the air, too. As recently as December, active tuberculosis caused a plane to get rerouted. Expensive and frustrating • Dangerous strains of the flu enter schools and nursing homes. Both the very old and very young are vulnerable…and dying. SECTION 1: WE ARE LOSING THE BATTLE SLIDE MAP: 1 . 2 . 3 .
- 28. PITCH DECK RECRUITING / ON BOARDING STATEOF THE INDUSTRY CEO STORY CUSTOMER STORY
- 29. YOUR FUNDING DECKIS THE FIRST ITERATION OF YOUR CORPORATE NARRATIVE. BIG IDEA: AUDIENCE MOVE FROM: AUDIENCE MOVE TO: A GREAT FUNDING DECK CAN SUPPORT ALL FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS A FUNDING DECK IS A REQUIREMENT FOR CAPITAL RAISING PROPOSED STORY ARC: THE FUNDING DECK IS A NECESSARY EVIL YOU NEED TO THINK OF IT AS AN AUDIENCE JOURNEY THE FROM— TO FRAMEWORK CAN SERVE AS A GUIDE NAIL THE DECK GET IT RIGHT AND ALL IS EASIER
- 30. “So much ofthe job of startup CEO is recruiting and selling. Ability to pitch investors is proxy.” – MARC ANDREESSEN
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- 34. SARA GAVISER LESLIE .. . sara@inotherwordsonline.com www.inotherwordsonline.com brought to you by
Editor's Notes
- #2 Thank you! • How many of you think you will need to raise money—from angel investors, VCs, or a combination of the two? You quickly realize you need a deck. and you start with.. How many don’t have these plans? That’s ok! Works for any sort of presentation…just using funding deck as e.g.
- #3 The blank first slide Your palms get sweaty, you start looking out the window Check snapchat, fb, You change fonts, layouts, but they’re all just delay tactics.
- #4 You think the process is a bit overwhelming but could be easier with a guide. Look anywhere and you’ll find a list of “must haves” for your deck It will look something like this—I’ve seen this from Sequoia, Greylock…all of the big guns and they are fairly standard. You might also check out some great decks such as LinkedIn’s Series B? deck. You can find it online. What usually happens is you divide and conquer •You gather the information you need to fill in each of these chapters •You even split up the work among the founders And you put it together into one presentation
- #5 What’s the problem with this approach? It’s like a Craigslist “missed connection” • The problem is you miss an opportunity to really engage your audience • This “fill in the blank” approach sells yourself short You miss this big opportunity to To tell a story that persuades investors to opt in To offer a message that resonates- and they’ll remember
- #6 How well you express your story is reflect of the strength of your idea This is your chance to share your passion with your audience.
- #7 There are lots of ways to tell a compelling story. One very popular approach is the Hero’s Journey I am going to talk about one method that works well for me: the “from-to” approach This is also known as the “what is/what could be” structure: To go back to our deck example, this is the data for the “problem, solution, why us” sections Example: Seamless/DoorDash: Getting dinner is hard. Unless you live in NYC, take out is expensive, unreliable, and takes your time Door dash makes the process as easy as two clicks. And gives you time back • This is the backbone of your message. The gap between “what is” and “what could be” is the story you tell about your company
- #8 So how do you do it? First, understand your audience: D-school? This is design research! You wouldn’t create a product without asking them what they need? Why a speech? What do they care about? What matters to them? Are they motivated by carrots or sticks? What are the other messages they are hearing? How are they responding?
- #9 •Let’s think about their starting point: As Nancy Duarte says, “ You start by describing life as the audience knows it. People should be nodding their heads in recognition because you’re articulating what they already understand. This creates a bond between you and them, and opens them up to hear your ideas for change.” You want to acknowledge their pain. When you start from a shared understanding, they are more likely to come along with you
- #10 • Once you’ve acknowledged their starting point, you need to decide what you want them to feel about your company/technology You are orienting them to your world You describe landmarks along the way, guideposts to direct them Some examples Examples: Uber: car service hailing is tough—->everyone’s private driver Nest: Setting a thermostat is annoying and it creates marital straing—-> the nest learns on its own. Need more female speakers—-say it’s a pipeline problem…really it’s a new way of finding them
- #11 Solution: Remember, you want them to come away saying you are solving a problem You can guide them but they determine how they feel They are the hero
- #12 It’s easier to see this in with a real company and real data Here’s an example of a former client of mine Zimek is a company that makes a machine that can efficiently clean a hospital room, school bus, plane to get rid of superbugs without using harmful chemicals
- #13 This is how they set up their original deck They introduced the product first
- #14 Then they talked about how it had earned EPA approval
- #15 And pointed out that no other similar vendor had gotten EPA approval
- #16 [The next few slides are a selection from the Zimek deck.] We started with the “what is” We started by acknowledging all of the issues surrounding these nasty bacteria and how people have likely experienced this You’ve probably noticed that superbugs like Staph, MRSA, C Difficile continue to defy antibiotics It’s one reason why you’re told not to take an antibiotic unless absolutely necessary.
- #17 No public—or private—area is immune
- #18 Then we wanted to demonstrate the gravity of this problem both in terms of numbers of people and dollars spent
- #20 We showed the market size
- #21 And we showed something everyone in the room would recognize…and admit wasn’t doing a good enough job.
- #22 We talked about the competition and their shortcomings
- #23 Only after painting the picture of “what is” did we show the system
- #24 Here’s the “from-to” we put together—you might have been able to guess this We posed the possibility of germ control that is safe, efficient, and affordable. Then, story of Zimek connected the “what is” to the “what could be”
- #25 I promised this would be hands on. And I know each of you has an idea you’re working on. So let’s take a break and each of you writes down your “from” “to”
- #26 Once you have your “from to”, you can start building your story Don’t start back with a blank slide! First, just organize all the ideas you want to share Some people like post-its I’m a msword girl myself Once you have all the points you want to make, organize them into groups
- #27 Here’s how you might organize Zimek. I’ve also added a big idea: the main message of the deck You group all the thoughts into buckets, then add detail under each bucket. Those topic areas make up the components of your story arc. Once you have the detail, you start planning your slides.
- #28 I like to use a slide map to plan my slides I put the speaker notes on the right and the main idea—and visual suggestions—on the left This is what I hand over to the designer
- #29 I get it. The process takes time. But it’s worth it. If you spend the time to build the foundation, you’ve got a running start for all your other content.
- #30 Here’s how you might organize Zimek. I’ve also added a big idea: the main message of the deck You group all the thoughts into buckets, then add detail under each bucket. Those topic areas make up the components of your story arc. Once you have the detail, you start planning your slides.
- #31 You need a story to recruit and sell. Though you won’t always be pitching investors, you will always need and repeat that story. But watching Silicon Valley, I heard this same idea but funnier, from someone on the Pied Piper’s team: “You turned down $10M dollars to develop something you can’t even describe to the company!” Don’t make that mistake
- #32 You’ve already started your from-to. It’s time to move on to your story arc. Get going!
- #34 You’ve already started your from-to. It’s time to move on to your story arc. Get going!
- #36 alt idea